Sierra hiker clothes blasted off by lightning strike

[joebartels]

Mathias Steinhuber was hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with his girlfriend and friend Carla Elvidge.

The avid hikers were hiking from Donner Summit to Squaw Valley ahead of friends and had reached the top of the bare ( no pun intended ) peak Tinkers Knob.

His shoes, clothes, including his underwear, were ripped from his body. The lightning bolt burned a hole through one of his shoes. Steinhuber had major burns throughout his body when rescued Tuesday. As of Thursday he was in fair condition.

[skatchkins]

I'm seeing a related Steve Martin/Jerk can moment. The lightning hates clothes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXRM3lFRwRI

And a new photoset category: nakedstormchasing

[chumley]

Lead Anchor

noun
the first or foremost place; position in advance of others:
He took the lead in the race.

or

noun
A heavy, comparatively soft, malleable, bluish-gray metal, sometimes found in its natural state but usually combined as a sulfide, especially in galena. Symbol: Pb; atomic weight: 207.19; atomic number: 82; specific gravity: 11.34 at 20°C.

[Hansenaz]

Ruined a perfectly good pair of shoes.

[TheMazzicMan]

Best getting-naked-in-the-wilderness story ever!

[amy1300]

@t_d_singletree
;D

[neilends]

Yikes.

I have a friend who got struck by lightning while hiking in Utah, when he was in his early 20s. No one knows if he was literally struck or whether it hit the ground close to him. Either way, he gets to say that he was struck.

He woke up in the dead of night since he'd passed out, alone. He's in his 40s now and still has bad headaches from the strike.

[RowdyandMe]

Never wear loose fitting clothes when hiking

[big_load]

"Lightning. Yeah, it was lightning" - my response in the (hopefully) unlikely event of being apprehended without clothes on.